dolophonic

Dayum how about the cat 4 with an altitude tent...WTF....

I think you got to get to the 1's or at least the 2's then start to think about this stuff...
Believe if you arnt winning 4's races or placing at least without this stuff ...just kick back and enjoy...
Having said that there is nothing wrong with chasing your dreams and spending your own money the way you like...
Just remember its just bike racing....

Duke of Kent

I've come closer to winning Pro/1/2 races than I did in the 4s, if I remember correctly.

Just sayin'.

Pablo.

I'm a 5, but I may as well be a 4. Just need to get my races in.

fishmel

Nice pic Pcad, That slightly sweaty, dazed look is what I look like after an interval workout, before the start of a race, and when I check the DOW.

Hida Yanra

Heh -
I'm all set with a full-house altitude setup

(living in the mountains rocks)

mollusk

While I know that there is 55+ Masters racing and that I will be eligible for them next year I would rather spend my time mentoring than racing. I get enough out of the sport now doing the Sunday training rides with my racer friends and occasionally riding the local hammerhead ride.

patentcad

So I guess I can't post photos of mine here then.

Dubbayoo

How far up do you need to be? I'm over 1,100 feet.

cedricbosch

Might want to have a look at this.

Hida Yanra

well, the river at the bottom of downtown is 5100ft - the edge of the city 14 miles away is about 6200, and then a 1/2 mile from there the mountain top is 10600 or so.
... thus, the reason for the city ending.

ElJamoquio

Hmmm, the way I remember it, the Cat 4 said he had the altitude tent for free.


That F-ing ******* is always posting up about how he's so great, and everyone else here is a loser. Arrogant condescending a-hole.

ElJamoquio

Ih8lucky13

You just got a no name tent from Rei and ran some aquarium hose under it.

Homebrew01

I'm not sure they're any faster though. I also raced "back then", with the log book too !! I stopped for 13 years, and started up again 2 years ago. At 46, I place in the top 5 or 10 in the 4s against paople 20 - 25years younger than me who I would expect to kick my butt.

Homebrew01

I thought altitute tents were actually counter productive because they hinder your recovery.

ElJamoquio

Yup, I'm the reason that Michael Phelps almost lost that one race.

grafsk8er

i just started riding and racing this year and got my cat 3 upgrade. i get mentoring from a local cat 2 guy. i don't have a hrm or powertap simply b/c i don't like dishing out money, and i just ride alot.

slim_77

get outa town...

heads up!

you ruined everything.

[nice job, man]

ZXiMan

I've been a Cat 5 for three years.... I don't do many USCF events at all (mostly because I prefer road races and most of them are very early in the year and are 3 to 4+ hours away).

I do local tuesday night crits and a bi-weekly club race ( a 25 mile route that is very "crit like" with lots of tight turns and loops with a usual ending pace of 22-24 mph) that is open for any level racer almost every week (they have an actual points system and actual prizes at the end of the series). It's alot of fun and you learn alot from racing with some really fast riders.

The stink of it is, the series is open to anyone (some Cat 1s, 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s all mixed in). For what it's worth, I'm one of only two Cat 5s that can hang in until the end and actually compete for the final sprint in the group or has attacked the group with some limited success. I don't always make it to the end though... it depends on who shows up and races.

I put in between 12-18 hours of training a week, sometimes more depending on the time of year and what my goals are for that time period.

patentcad

Wait. How come you're not dead or maimed yet?

ZXiMan

Because I'm not the guy who's raced 50 times as a Cat 5?

I don't know how some of those sandbaggers aren't forced to upgrade, but there is one or two guys in our region that have been Cat 5s for years and have raced many more times than 10 mass starts (one has 50+ starts). How the heck does that happen????

And because I haven't done 10 mass starts yet in USCF events?

I didn't do even ONE this year... too busy loving the club scene to really care. To me, racing is racing. I get to scratch my competitive itch (and more than not get my @ss handed to me) by racing in a mixed group of Cat riders.

I'm also smart enough to try to be at the front of the group (top 5-6 spots) as much as I can. Most of the drama has been behind me where I want it to be (ie: crashes and stupidity).

patentcad

I run into my pal the other day who lives up the road. Serious 35+ racer. He says he switched teams for next year, in part because he wasn't getting enough support. He asks me how many times I raced in 2008. I figured it was like 13-14 times. He looks at me and say 'that's plenty, at least you raced, some of my team mates only showed up 2-3x all year.' Which surprised me. To me racing a full schedule would have involved 30 races, which is what I did for much of the 90's, my team mate Gary did over 50. My schedule is more selective now because I want to be home by noon (I do early AM races in NY City), and I'm farther away from the mid-week twilight race venues (it's more of a hassle to go to those than it's worth now). Next year I hope to get more individual TTs in and maybe get it up to 20 races or so.

kudude

if you only do 2 races, there is a chance you'll survive. Cat 5 is a perfect example of this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropic_principle

umd

There is no forced upgrade from cat 5. That's why they don't allow primes or cash or merchandise awards for cat 5, to discourage sandbagging.